Florida DOT widening State Road 64

The Florida Department of Transportation is readying to start improvements to State Road 64 in eastern Manatee County.

The FDOT has awarded a $12.7 million contract to Naples-based Better Roads Inc. to widen 2.5 miles of State Road 64. Construction is expected to start in March.

The project will provide six lanes from downtown Bradenton, to the Gulf, to Interstate 75. The project will also allow for two more lanes in the future, says FDOT spokeswoman Lauren Hatchell.

The project will widen the divided roadway from four to six lanes near Carlton Arms Boulevard to just west of Interstate 75. Improvements include milling and resurfacing the existing roadway and widening the outside to accommodate three travel lanes, a bike path, outside curb and gutter and a sidewalk in both directions.

FDOT's contract with Better Roads Inc. is for 450 days, putting an estimated completion of the project in May 2013.

The FDOT has been working to improve S.R. 64 from 12th Street West to 15th Street West in Bradenton since summer 2010. That project is scheduled to be completed by early 2012.

Hatchell said the project is unrelated to a widening project that is beginning farther east.

— reporting by Pam Eubanks, correspondent